Innovation Elixir: The next generation of photo sharing

I recently caught up with Thijs Suijten, CEO of Famatic. Thijs is a cordial man, very bright and very entrepreneurial.

Thijs also had a problem he shared with me. Being an avid father of two young daughters, he takes lots of pictures and wants to share those images with others, including the girls’ grandparents. Thijs is active on social media, so point, click and BAM! — his photos are loaded on Facebook and other social media channels.

But there's one problem. The grandparents don’t use Facebook and really aren’t that interested in learning the technology or getting a laptop or even a tablet. They simply want to see the pictures of their grandchildren.

Sound familiar? It happens all too often. We try to get grandparents and others who are not tech savvy or interested in social media to engage — only to have both sides become frustrated.

Thijs has come up with a simple and effective solution that he calls Famatic.

Famatic is an electronic picture frame on steroids. You could call it a smart picture frame that is akin to many of the other “Internet of Things” devices you see and read about. In its simplest form, it’s an electronic photo frame connected to the Internet, and it’s exactly the user experience that people are pining for — simplification and speed of picture sharing.

Imagine this scenario: You are at the park and little Rachel learns how to ride her bike for the first time. You snap the pictures and want to share them with grandma and grandpa. So you send the pictures from your phone to the Famatic device that is sitting on the mantel of grandma and grandpa’s fireplace, and BAM! — they are instantly seeing the pictures that you just took!

They don’t need to start a computer or tablet, they don’t need to log in, they don’t need to find a website or remember a password. They simply look at the Famatic and the pictures of sweet little Rachel.

This is a win-win product to say the least. Not only do grandma and grandpa get the pictures instantaneously and effortlessly in the comfort of their home, but now the picture taker doesn't have to take time to log onto email and go through the hassle of transferring pictures a few at a time (because your email only allows about 10mg of image).

The product is likely to launch for around $170, which is a one-time fee with no ongoing subscription or additional charges. Future enhancements may include other options like pushing birthday reminders or the grandkids’ athletic schedule among other options.

Patrick Stroh is a president at Mercury Business Advisors, which provides management advisory services in business strategy, innovation, and product development. He is also the author of "Business Strategy: Plan, Execute, Win!" He recently held positions within UnitedHealth Group, including chief strategy and innovation officer, client experience officer, president, and SVP of business strategy. Stroh holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.